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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The latest issue of Mystery Readers Journal: Paranormal Mysteries (Volume 26:2) is out. Take a look at the Table of Contents. Great Articles, Reviews and Author! Author! essays. Great cover photo by Mark Coggins. I'll be posting different articles on Mystery Fanfare, so you can get a taste of this issue. Here's the

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summertime, and the living is easy. Or is it? I got to thinking about all those mysteries that take place during Summer--on the Beach, at the Lake, and in the City that are filled with murder and mayhem! What follows is a list of Summer Crime Fiction that exudes the heat and the accompanying crime of Summertime. I've omitted Father's Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day from this list. I'll be updating the later two later in the Summer. As always I invite you to add any titles I've missed. This is far from a definitive list.

Summer Mysteries

A Cat on a Beach Blanket by Lydia AdamsonMoon Water Madness by Glynn Marsh Alam A Tangled June by Neil AlbertA Midsummer Night's Killing by Trevor BarnesMilwaukee Summers Can Be Deadly by Kathleen Anne BarrettSummertime News by Dick BelskyJaws by Peter Benchley (maybe not quite a mystery, but a good read, especially at the Beach)The Down East Murders by J.S. BorthwickThe Cat Who Saw Stars, The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson BraunChill of Summer by Carol BrennanDevils Island by Carl Brookins Beach Music by Pat ConroyA Shoot on Martha's Vineyard by Philip Craig The Trouble with a Hot Summer by Camilla CrespiThe Gold Coast, Plum Island by Nelson DeMilleMurder Makes Waves by Anne GeorgeMagic Hour by Susan Isaacs Death in Holy Orders by P.D. JamesA Summer for Dying by Jamie KatzMidsummer Malice by M.D. LakeDark Nantucket Noon by Jane LangtonThe Body in the Lighthouse by Katherine Hall PageBeach House by James PatteronSummer of the Dragon by Elizabeth PetersIn the Dead of the Summer by Gillian RobertsVacations Can Be Murder by Connie SheltonAn Old Faithful Murder by Valerie WolzienOrchid Beach by Stuart Woods Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah WoodworthSummer Will End by Dorian Yeager

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Author Peter Temple has won the 2010 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia's premier literary prize. (Herald Sun). Temple’s crime fiction book, Truth, makes history for being the first work of genre fiction to win the award, which was established in 1957. Woo-hoo!

Truth follows Inspector Stephen Villani, the head of the Victoria Police Homicide Squad, and a series of grisly murders he is investigating in Melbourne.

Although Summer is often touted as being a lazy time to read mysteries at the beach or by the lake, this summer is actually filled with several mystery conferences and conventions. The following upcoming meetings will give fans and writers lots of time to gather and discuss their favorite subject: crime fiction.

Monday, June 21, 2010

I just finished an ARC of Peter Robinson's Bad Boy, the latest in his Banks' series. It'll be out in August in the UK and September in the US. I thought it was terrific. Rather than say too much about it--yet, here's the trailer with Peter Robinson talking about Bad Boy. I'll be reviewing it closer to publication.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

We're all horrified by serial killers, yet we're fascinated at the same time. What made these folks 'monsters"? There's always the need to know, especially for mystery readers. The answers, of course, are not always clear.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

I posted a list of mysteries last year for Father's Day and thought I'd update the post here with the addition of only two more titles and a few more comments. Let me know if I have forgotten a mystery.
***Father's Day: another holiday, another list. Although not as many mysteries as for Mother's Day, there are a few. Not a lot of originality in the titles, but quite a variety in types of books.

Father’s Day by John Calvin BatchelorFather’s Day by Rudolph EngelmanFather’s Day Keith GilmanDear Old Dead by Jane HaddamThe Father’s Day Murder by Lee HarrisDay of Reckoning by Kathy HermanDead Water by Victoria HoustonFather’s Day Murder by Leslie MeierFather’s Day by Alan Trustman

Murder for Father, edited by Martin Greenberg (short stories)

I posted this list the other day, but as I was working on my DyingforChocolate Blog, I started to reminisce about my father. I think similar comments belong here. My father, Joseph Rudolph, passed away 8 years ago, but it seems like only yesterday. He encouraged and supported me throughout my varying careers and educational pursuits, and he always told me I could accomplish anything and succeed in whatever I tried.

One thing we shared in common was our love of mysteries. Over the years my taste in mysteries has changed. I read more hardboiled, dark mysteries now like he always did. You can't imagine how many times I finish a book and say to myself, "I have to send this to Dad. He'll love it." My father engendered a love of mysteries in me through his collection of mystery novels and Ellery Queen Magazines.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

This fabulous event is absolutely FREE! How can that be? Because this is not a conference, it's an EVENT! Only possible expense would be for the June 25 Tea (limited to 30, contact will@poisonedpen.com). Events will take place at The Poisoned Pen and the Arizona Biltmore

Barbara Peters writes: "Our night is still evolving. Look for Koryta to interview Hannah which should be a trip -- they are two irrepressible rising stars, highly individualistic, I put them together to see if sparks will fly.

A trip into Elizabethan noir with Chisholm, Stabenow, Gabaldon, and meI have met PF Chisholm. You have not. She is a fantastic trip and generally wears remarkable hats, some with sweeping feathers just like those Elizabethan courtiers and rogues she writes about. The Tudors were definitely bad boys...and girls. So were their poets and playwrites and yes, spies. If you read The Other Boleyn Girl, here is what happened to her son and his kids.

More: Readings by the authors, questions, and our Drawing for the $100 Gift Certificate (each book by an attending author you purchase gives you a ticket to put into the drawing) plus $75 Gift Certificate for the person who writes the best completing line for

"I Came Late to _______"

Saturday June 26 Let's Read! 9:30 pm Arizona Biltmore Grand Ballroom

Nearly all the June 25/26 authors read from their work and take questions
Hit the bar. Wear street clothes or your pajamas. Mingle.

Ken Kuhlken is a Shamus and Hemingway award winning author of historical novels, mysteries, suspense and short stories. His unique and genuine characters lead readers on an adventurous trip through the mysteries of 20th century California. His latest novel is The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles. Read an Interview with Ken Kuhlken about The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles on International Thriller Writers.

Susan Shea is a first time author making her debut with Murder in the Abstract that takes place within the fascinating world of fine art. She was a non-profit executive for more than two decades before quitting her day job in 2006 to become a full time fiction writer.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Again my worlds of Crime and Chocolate cross. This one belongs in the Truth is Stranger than Fiction category.

Amy Reiley, co-author of The Love Diet with Juan-Carlos Cruz, will be flying solo tonight at a launch party tonight for the cookbook which debuts next week. The Love Diet is a twist on weight loss with recipes that aim for health, decadence and love. Of interest to me, of course, is the recipe for Chocolate Truffles made with fat free half and half instead of cream.

Reiley's co-author Juan-Carlos Cruz of Santa Monica, and a former Food Network TV chef, is in custody for 'allegedly" trying to hire homeless men to strangle his wife. Another twist since love and sex are an important part of this new cookbook is that Cruz and his wife have reportedly been having fertility problems. Cruz has pleaded not guilty. Bail is set at $5 million. This 'truth is stranger than fiction' story will bear watching.

As they say, publicity is where you find it, and The Love Diet is getting a lot of publicity. It's independently published by Amy Reiley's publishing company (they also published Kiss My Bundt). Read Amy Reiley's blog about the situation, HERE. Her website is The Life of Reiley.

BEST FIRST NOVEL
Josh Bazell, BEAT THE REAPER, Little, Brown
Alan Bradley, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, Delacorte
Rebecca Cantrell, A TRACE OF SMOKE, Forge
Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY, Minotaur
Attica Locke, BLACK WATER RISING, Harper
Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST (THE TWELVE), Soho Crime

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. The 2010 Macavity Nominations are for books and stories published in 2009. Mystery Readers Journal is MRI's publication. The winners will be announced at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, in October. Bouchercon will be held in San Francisco in 2010. This award is named for the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats).

Best First Mystery Novel
• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Delacorte)
• Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti (Wm. Morrow)
• A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur)
• The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville (Soho Crime)
• A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Picador)

Best Mystery Nonfiction
• L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin (Random House: Harmony Books)
• Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Rogue Males: Conversations & Confrontations About the Writing Life by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
• The Line Up: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives, edited by Otto Penzler (Little, Brown & Co)
• Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (Penguin Press)
• Dame Agatha’s Shorts: An Agatha Christie Short Story Companion by Elena Santangelo (Bella Rosa Books)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery
• A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
• In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur)
• A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd (Wm. Morrow)
• Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)
• Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt)

Monday, June 7, 2010

There’s a new controversial method of freeze drying your loved ones’ remains. The process called the promession technique was invented by Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Masa and presented at a recent Asian funeral expo. The process includes super freezing the deceased body with liquid nitrogen and then vigorously shaking until it becomes dust. “The body falls apart when it’s really cold and that was something that I felt was appealing and clean,” said the creator.

The new method of interment will soon launch in Sweden and South Korea. It it also expected to attract those in densely populated urban areas, especially those countries with full cemeteries.

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Anthony Award 2010 Nominations were announced today. The Anthony Awards will be presented on Sunday, October 17, during Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. Bouchercon will be in San Francisco October 14-17, 2010. To register, go HERE.

Sad news.Eleanor Taylor Bland died this week at the age of 65. Bland was the author of 13 mystery novels featuring female African-American Chicago homicide detective Marti MacAlister, including Dead Time, Windy City Dying, Fatal Remains and her most recent, A Dark and Deadly Deception (2005)

Bland lived in Waukegan, IL, she was a 1981 graduate of University of Southern Illinois. During her career, she received an Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award, a Chester Himes Mystery Fiction Award and was a 2001 Gold Pen Award nominee.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Nero Award is presented each year to an author for the best mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories. It is presented at the Black Orchid Banquet, traditionally held on the first Saturday in December in New York City. The Nero Award celebrates literary excellence in the mystery genre.

The Wolfe Pack, the literary society that celebrates all things Nero Wolfe, also presents the Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA) in partnership with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the Novella format popularized by Rex Stout. The BONA is also announced at the Black Orchid Banquet in December.

About the Wolfe Pack

The Wolfe Pack, founded in 1977, is a forum to discuss, explore, and enjoy the 72 Nero Wolfe books and novellas written by Rex Stout. The organization promotes fellowship and extends friendship to those who enjoy these great literary works of mystery through a series of events, book discussions, and a journal devoted to the study of the genius detective, Nero Wolfe, and his intrepid assistant, Archie Goodwin. The organization has more than 450 members worldwide.

Nominees for the Hammett Prize included Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster), Devil’s Garden by Ace Atkins (Putnam), The Long Fall by Walter Mosley (Riverhead), and The Way Home by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown).

Jedediah received a bronze trophy, designed by West Coast sculptor, Peter Boiger. Congratulations, Jedediah!